Hearing

In April, I was diagnosed with Basilar Migraines.  One of the symptoms/side effects/whatever you want to call it I have is hearing issues.  Sometimes it is just a ringing in my one ear, sometimes both ears.  Sometimes it is decreased hearing in one or both ears.  Or occasionally I have lost hearing completely in one ear for a few minutes and it has returned slowly.  Also, in group environments or rooms with bad acoustics, I have a hard time hearing the conversation I am in.  I have not been able to put a pattern with getting a migraine and having these issues yet, but I do know they're related.  When the more severe episodes happen, they scare me.  I am unsure if they will get better, worse, or stay the same in the future but I am learning ways to deal with it when I do have problems.

Before all of this had started, I took ASL as a class for fun.  Some of my close friends and family know basic signs and I can have a short conversation with them.  I have used signing to communicate when I have a hard time hearing, but it is difficult because the people I am trying to communicate with don't know it well and neither do I.  I am hoping once I get settled down somewhere I can get my core group of friends and maybe even co-workers to learn enough that if I have to use it, we can communicate easily.

The other day I was telling my friend about these hearing issues and it came up that her parents are Deaf.  A few weeks ago I saw a family signing in Wal-Mart and I wanted to introduce myself but didn't feel comfortable but have decided if I see them again, I will.  Today in Church, Pastor Bryan taught us the sign for crazy because he was signing it while preaching.  At lunch I learned that two of my friends are deaf in one of their ears.  There are definitely some connections happening here that I need to pay attention to.